1994 MTV Video Music Awards

1994 MTV Video Music Awards
DateThursday, September 8, 1994
LocationRadio City Music Hall, New York, New York
CountryUnited States
Hosted byRoseanne Barr
Most awardsR.E.M (4)
Most nominationsAerosmith (9)
Television/radio coverage
NetworkMTV
Produced byDoug Herzog
Joel Stillerman
Directed byBruce Gowers
← 1993 · MTV Video Music Awards · 1995 →

The 1994 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 8, 1994, honoring the best music videos from June 16, 1993, to June 15, 1994. The show was hosted by Roseanne Barr at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and this would be the last time there was a female host for the VMAs until Chelsea Handler hosted in 2010. Kurt Cobain, frontman of grunge band Nirvana, was honored this night after his death on April 5.

Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley opened the show by Michael giving a speech. They ended it by taking a long kiss in front of everyone. In another notable moment, David Letterman escorted Madonna onto the stage and told the singer to watch her language, poking fun at Madonna's controversial appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman five months earlier.

R.E.M. was, for the second time in their careers, the biggest winner of the night, taking home four technical awards for their video "Everybody Hurts." Closely following were hip-hop group Salt-n-Pepa and rock band Aerosmith, both of which earned three moonmen that night. Aerosmith's video for Cryin', in fact, won the two main awards of the night, Video of the Year and Viewer's Choice, making it the second video in VMA history to achieve this feat. This would also be the last time that the nominees for Viewer's Choice were the same as those for Video of the Year, as MTV discontinued this rule the next year.

In terms of nominations, meanwhile, Aerosmith was the night's biggest nominee, earning a total of nine nominations for two of their videos: "Cryin'" received four general nominations, while "Amazing" earned five professional ones. Right behind them were R.E.M., whose video for "Everybody Hurts" was the night's most nominated video with seven nominations, and newcomer Björk, who received six nominations for "Human Behaviour."

Background

MTV announced in late June that the 1994 Video Music Awards would be held on September 8 at Radio City Music Hall, marking the ceremony's return to New York City for the first time since 1986 and to Radio City for the first time since 1985.[1] Nominees were announced at a press conference held at New York City Hall on July 13.[2] For the first time since the ceremony's inception, MTV chose not to syndicate the ceremony to broadcast television.[3] The ceremony broadcast was preceded by the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards Opening Act. Hosted by Kurt Loder and Tabitha Soren with reports from Cindy Crawford, Juliette Hohnen, and Alison Stewart, the broadcast featured red carpet interviews, pre-taped features on Roseanne's VMA preparations and New York City's music landmarks, a pre-taped interview with Courtney Love, and a remix of New York City hip-hop music produced by Grandmaster Flash.

Performances

List of musical performances in order of appearance
Artist(s) Song(s) Ref.
Aerosmith "Walk This Way"
Boyz II Men "I'll Make Love to You"
The Smashing Pumpkins "Disarm"
The Rolling Stones "Love Is Strong"
"Start Me Up"
Green Day "Armatage Shanks"
Beastie Boys "Sabotage"
Leningrad Cowboys & Alexandrov Red Army Ensemble "Sweet Home Alabama"
Salt-n-Pepa "Push It"
"None of Your Business"
"Whatta Man"
"Shoop"
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers "Mary Jane's Last Dance"
Snoop Doggy Dogg "Murder Was the Case (DeathAfterVisualizingEternity)"
Stone Temple Pilots "Pretty Penny"
Bruce Springsteen "Streets of Philadelphia"

Presenters

Winners and nominations

Nominees were selected by members of the music industry. Winners in general categories were selected by 500 members of the music industry and, for the first time, 500 MTV viewers. Winners in professional categories were selected by members of the music industry. Winners in the Viewer's Choice categories were selected by viewers, with the U.S. winner chosen via a phone poll conducted in the days prior to and during the ceremony.[4]

Winners are in bold text.

Video of the Year Best Male Video
Best Female Video Best Group Video
Best New Artist in a Video Best Metal/Hard Rock Video
Best R&B Video Best Rap Video
Best Dance Video Best Alternative Video
Best Video from a Film Breakthrough Video
Best Direction in a Video Best Choreography in a Video
Best Special Effects in a Video Best Art Direction in a Video
Best Editing in a Video Best Cinematography in a Video
Viewer's Choice International Viewer's Choice: MTV Brasil
International Viewer's Choice: MTV Europe International Viewer's Choice: MTV Japan
International Viewer's Choice: MTV Latin America
Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award
Tom Petty
Lifetime Achievement Award
The Rolling Stones

See also

References

  1. ^ Huff, Richard (July 1, 1994). "We get our MTV back — awards in Apple". New York Daily News – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Booth, Philip (July 14, 1994). "MTV names music award nominees". The Tampa Tribune – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Bobbin, Jay (September 2, 1994). "Roseanne, MTV Awards A Melding of Attitudes". Albuquerque Journal. Tribune Media Services – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Deggans, Eric (September 8, 1994). "Goodbye bland; hello Roseanne". Central New Jersey Home News – via Newspapers.com.